Gran (TV series)

Gran
Title card for the series
Created by Michael and Joanne Cole
Directed by Ivor Wood
Starring Patricia Hayes
Music by Bryan Daly
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13
Production
Running time 5 minutes per episode (approx)
Production company(s) Woodland Animations
Release
Original network BBC
Picture format 4:3
Original release 17 February – 12 May 1983

Gran is a children's stop motion animation television series narrated by Patricia Hayes and directed by Ivor Wood. There were only two main characters, namely Gran and her grandson, Jim, and they were lucky and kind.

The programme made by Woodland Animations was created and written by Michael and Joanne Cole.[1] Ivor Wood produced thirteen five-minute episodes in 1982 and the series was broadcast on the BBC between 17 February 1983 and 12 May 1983,[2] and was repeated in both 1986 and 1992. Children's books based on the series, written by Michael and illustrated by Joanne Cole were also released in 1983. The shorts were also shown in the U.S. as part of the Nickelodeon series Eureeka's Castle.

Despite moderate popularity with young audiences in the mid-1980s, the series has not been seen on UK television since being repeated as part of the Tiny Living broadcasting block on Living TV in the late 1990s, and no further episodes were made. Universal Pictures released all 13 episodes on Region 2 DVD in the U.K. on 7 March 2005, but the release has since been discontinued.[3]

Synopsis

At first glance you may think Gran is like any other Grandma, but she's not. Along with her grandson Jim, she takes part in different crazy adventures. Each episode sees Gran performing weird and wacky tasks - growing her runner beans up a dinosaurs skeleton, hang gliding, knitting a giant scarf to wrap around her house in the winter, and cross country motorbike racing. But one thing's for sure - she'll always be wearing her pink slippers.

Episode list

# Title Date of TV Debut Summary
1"Gran Gliding"17 February 1983Jim visits his Gran and persuades her to come with him to fly his kite. But something else called a 'hang-glider' catches Gran's eye
2"Gran Knits"24 February 1983Gran may not be very good at knitting, but when she gets going there's no stopping her, and the whole house is soon protected from the winter cold.
3"Gran's Pets"3 March 1983Gran makes up for all the time she has lived without animals after she visits the zoo and takes a shine to the monkeys.
4"Gran the Goalie"10 March 1983Gran soon learns from Jim how to save goals before going to watch the local team to end up as a goalkeeper for it.
5"Gran's Old Bones"17 March 1983Gran and Jim dig up some strange bean poles in the garden. They visit the museum, convinced that they've found dinosaur bones.
6"Gran's Gadgets"24 March 1983Gran thinks how to make life around the house a bit easier.
7"Gran's Good News"31 March 1983Gran doesn't like watching the depressing weather forecasts on TV, so she gets her own show only giving the good news
8"Gran's Bike"7 April 1983Gran likes the look of Jim's pushbike but, being Gran, she takes up cross-country motor biking instead after taking a tumble in the garden with the shopping.
9"Gran the Camper"14 April 1983Jim goes on a school camping trip in the hills, but when he gets to the top, he finds someone is already camping there- guess who?.
10"Snow Gran"21 April 1983Gran finds tobogganing too tame and takes up skiing that suddenly doesn't go well by skiing in the garden to crash into the snowman.
11"Gran's Rare Bird"28 April 1983Gran and Jim go bird watching. Gran is so determined to spot a rare bird that Jim decides to help her out.
12"Grandmother Clock"5 May 1983Gran repairs a clock, and from then on everything goes like clockwork with many clocks.
13"Gran's Goat"12 May 1983Gran gets some goats to keep her grass down- but they get her down too.

VHS release

Castle Communications released one video of Gran with 12 episodes on it and it later got repackaged as a single title by the Castle Communications 'Playbox' brand of children's video titles (Cat. No. PVC 121).

VHS Title Catalogue Number Episodes
Gran- 12 Classic Episodes CVS 4083 Gran Gliding, Gran Knits, Gran's Pets, Gran's A Goalie, Gran's Gadgets, Gran's Good News, Gran's Bike, Gran the Camper, Snow Gran, Gran's Rare Bird, Grandmother Clock, Gran's Goat

On 1 June 1999, Castle Home Video (a division of Castle Music Ltd) had released a single video of Gran with all 13 episodes of the entire show on it (including Gran's Old Bones as its first episode along with the 12 other episodes of Gran from its original Castle Communications video release).

VHS Title Release Date Episodes
Gran (CHV 2051) 1 June 1999 Gran's Old Bones, Gran Gliding, Gran Knits, Gran's Pets, Gran's A Goalie, Gran's Gadgets,
Gran's Good News, Gran's Bike, Gran the Camper, Snow Gran, Gran's Rare Bird,
Grandmother Clock, Gran's Goat

GOOF: The cover of Gran (CHV 2051) mistakingly contains 12 episodes on the back cover and credited as "12 classic episodes" on the front cover whereas the actual video cassette contained all 13 episodes of Gran.

Theme tune lyrics

The theme music had the following lyrics:

Hello Gran, how are you?
How do you feel today?
I just came by to see if I could be of help in any way?
I always like to come and spend my time with you
You somehow seem to think of something great to do
You really are the most
I think that I can boast
You really are the most surprising Gran!
(Whistle)

Credits

  • Created and written by: Joanne & Michael Cole
  • Narration And Voices by: Patricia Hayes
  • Series Designed & Directed by: Ivor Wood
  • Animation by: Derek Mogford
  • Music & Lyrics by: Bryan Daly
  • Sung by: Duncan Cargill
  • Film Editor: Martin Bohan
  • Sound: Clive Pendry
  • Produced by: Woodland Animations Ltd
  • © Woodland Animations Ltd / Joanne Cole MCMLXXXII

Copyright Gag: the 1982 caption reads MDCCCCLXXXII instead of MCMLXXXII

References

  1. ↑ http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/563704/
  2. ↑ Gran at Toonhound.com
  3. ↑ Gran Series 1 DVD listing on British Video Association
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